During his State of the Union address earlier this week, President Obama outlined a vision for the future that calls on America to “Out innovate, out educate, and out build the rest of the world.”  A crucial contributor to this effort, as the President recognized, is rural broadband.  USDA is funding the deployment of broadband systems across the country, and we want to help your community as well. Read more »

This fall USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) successfully completed its final round of grant awards under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act).  In the last year and a half, we’ve done more to bridge the digital divide for rural Americans than many ever thought possible.  The Recovery Act has unleashed an historic level of investment in rural high speed telecommunications infrastructure that will create new jobs, new services and new opportunities across the countryside. Read more »

Only Oklahoma can turn a rural water backwash lagoon into a postcard! These lagoons will be cleaned and used with the new water treatment plant.

The Town of Roland, Oklahoma is located just 5 miles from the Arkansas border in extreme east central Oklahoma. Roland has the tools we need for growth, but economic development cannot happen without planning and a vision for the future. The new water treatment plant expansion will set the stage for Roland’s future. Read more »

Throughout this year, USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) consulted with Tribes on the Substantially Underserved Trust Areas (SUTA) provision of the 2008 Farm Bill.  This provision directed RUS to develop a strategy to deliver infrastructure program funding tailored and more affordable to the circumstances and challenges facing trust lands in high need of RUS’s electric, telecommunications and water and waste program funding. Second, the provision directed RUS to consult with local governments and Federal agencies in implementing this effort. Read more »

As part of the Obama Administration’s goal of doubling renewable energy production by 2012, America’s rural electric cooperatives are stepping forward to develop new, sustainable ways to produce electricity.  These efforts are not only good for the environment; they help meet an expanding need for power due to growing rural consumer demand.  The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), part of USDA’s Rural Development mission area, is a willing and ready partner in this effort. Read more »

Tribal Consultation: Front row, left to right, Phillip Chimburas, Ute Indian Tribe; Ernest House, Chairman, Ute Mountain; Leona Eyetoo, South Ute Tribe; Jeanine Borchardt, Chairwoman, Paiute Tribe; Jessica Zufolo, Deputy Administrator, Rural Utilities Service; Forrest S. Cuch, Director, Division of Indian Affairs: Madeline Greymountain, Tribal Council Member, Confederate Tribes of Goshute Reservations. Back row: Kenneth Maryboy, Navajo, UTL Chair; Dave Conine, Utah State Director, USDA Rural Development; Utah LT. Governor Greg Bell; Leonard Gorman , Executive Director Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission.

USDA Rural Development officials joined Greg Bell, Lieutenant Governor of the State of Utah recently at the 2010 Native American Summit held in Ogden.  This historic gathering provided an opportunity to meet with Utah’s tribal Leaders, and explore the means available for USDA to become a more effective partner in delivering services and addressing tribal needs. Read more »